Paramedics Introduce Community Referral Program

Friday, 27 March 2015 at 05:12

Paramedics across the county are preparing for their new Community Referral by Emergency Medical Service program, which aims to ensure all people needing extended care receive it.

April 1st Paramedics within the county will be able start the implementation process for a new project called CREMS that they have been working on for nearly 5 years. Deputy Chief for the Supervisor of EMS Professional Standards Stephen Turner stated that the plan goes by the full name of Community Referral by Emergency Medical Services. "It is a program that's meant to link our patients with community based services. Often we are called for 911 calls where somebody might be having an acute or an immediate emergency. We might see situations in their homes where we see they're not quite coping and they might need extended care. Those are very much community driven and we can work with our partners out in the community to make sure that our patients get all the care that they need."

Media were invited to Oxford County EMS headquarters yesterday to watch demonstrations on how a new procedure will be used in action. Turner is hopeful CREMS will be able to link patients with additional health care due to the aging community. "Our patient population and the number of calls we do a year grows by 7-8% a year. What is happening is what is called the grey tsunami, as our baby boomer get older that puts an increase on the amount of resources of health care that they need to consume. We want to make sure that we have put something in place that helps prevent future calls and make sure people can live well at home."

Turner feel this a transformational shift in the way that paramedics provide care. "My notes go back to 2010 so we having been working some time on trying to develop the program. It has taken some time to get all the ducks in a row it has certainly been facilitated by and $83,000 grant from the provincial government. It's a one time grant that really helps us put our training in place, and helps bring our partners to the table and it has been very effective in doing that."